New Beginnings
by bethie86
Summary: What happens after the Jax story ends? Let's see if Wendy makes it.
1. Chapter 1

Wendy shifted her weight in the car. They had been driving for hours. She was wondering what happened with Jax and how everything was going to end up once it was all over. The boys were both asleep in the back. Abel was clutching something in his hand that she hadn't noticed before. She glanced over and wondered what it was. She wasn't going to reach back to get it because she didn't want to wake him up. Nero glanced her way.

"You ok?" he asked.

She nodded. She wasn't sure if she really meant that or not. She looked at Thomas' sleeping face in the mirror and sighed. Nero was taking them to the new farm that he had just bought. He was done with the gang life and was going to retire out to the farm. It had been Jax's idea to have him take Wendy and the boys down to the farm with him. He had known that something was up. Things just didn't feel right.

"Things aren't right," he said.

"What do you mean?" Wendy asked.

"I don't know. It's just a feeling I have,"

Wendy looked over at him. He sighed. He dropped the issue until they were at the farm. Wendy took Thomas from his seat and carried him up to the door while Nero got Abel. She smiled. Nero turned the television on when they got in the house. The two boys were still sound asleep. Something on the television caught Wendy's eye. It was a story about an accident that involved a motorcycle and a semi. The scene looked brutal. Wendy's heart went out to the people affected by the accident. The phone rang.

"Hello," Nero answered it.

Wendy looked over at him.

"What the hell was he thinking?" Nero asked.

"Who?" Wendy asked.

"Turn that up."

Wendy turned the television up a little more. She looked back at Nero again.

"Jesus," Nero said.

Wendy was growing more and more concerned by the moment. Nero was staring at the television and a pained look of worry was written across his face. She was beginning to get scared. Nero hung up the phone and put his arms around her.

"Mami, that's Jax," he said.

Wendy's eyes widened and she could feel the fear building up in her chest. The tears were falling before she could stop them. She stared straight ahead trying to convince herself that Nero was lying. The Jax she knew and loved would not have gone that route. He wouldn't have left his boys like that. He wouldn't have left her especially after the night they shared. She was worried about the kids. Her heart was breaking because no matter what she loved Jax and she loved those boys.

"A lawyer will be calling with documents for you to sign," Nero said, quietly.

"For what?" Wendy sniffed.

"He gave it all to you from what I was just told. Everything, both houses, the shop, all of it."

Wendy was stunned. She knew that this was going to be gut wrenching for her. She was going to have to talk to Abel in particular. Thomas was too young to understand any of it. She was going to ensure that both boys knew who their father was and who Tara was because both had played big parts in the boys lives.

"There is a catch though," Nero said.

"What?" Wendy asked.

"Jax wants you to take the boys away from Charming and away from everything that has to do with the club."

That stunned Wendy. She didn't think Jax would ever take the boys from the club. She looked at the boys sleeping on the couches in Nero's living room. She was shaking in her seat. Her eyes went back to the TV. She could not believe that mess that she was seeing on the news was all that was left of Jax's bike.

"Wendy?" Abel was awake.

"Hey buddy, come here." she said.

He walked over to her and she pulled him into her lap. She felt the pain take over and the tears begin to fall.

"What's wrong?" Abel asked.

Wendy just shook her head. She knew she would have to tell him but she wasn't sure how. The poor kid had already had so many losses in his short little life. She didn't want to have to be the one to give him another one. He was already convinced that she was going to leave the same way Tara had. She was not going to let that happen. She was always going to be there for those boys.

*two days later*

Wendy was sorting through all the paperwork that the lawyer had dropped off the day before. Abel knew that Jax was in an accident and hadn't made it. She also had to tell him that Grandma was not coming back either. It was a rough couple of days for the poor little guy. He was doing the best he could do deal with it all. Wendy was sitting at the table going through the envelope again when Nero walked in the room. He had Thomas on his hip. He had been doing what he could to keep Abel distracted with all the animals on the farm.

"How's it going in here?" he asked.

"It's all so damn confusing," she sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well there is money here that takes care of the funerals for both Jax and Gemma. There is also a stipulation that they are not buried near each other. Gemma apparently goes next to Thomas and Jax next to Tara. Then I'm supposed to sell half of Teller-Morrow to one of the guys so I don't have to be around to run it but he didn't want us to have anything to do with the club. I just don't get it."

"Well I think he wanted to make sure that you have money coming in so you can be with the boys."

Wendy nodded. Things were crazy for her now. She had a lot of paperwork to deal with and two houses to sell. It was crazy to think that her life had drastically changed in less than 48 hours. She was now officially mom to the two boys and she was their only caregiver. She also had two funerals to plan and two houses to sell. She had so much to deal with and she was thankful that they were on the farm so that she had help with the boys while she sorted through it all.

"You are doing good dealing with it all," Nero said.

"I'd fall apart if I didn't have help with the boys," she replied.

"You would handle it just like you do everything else,"

"With an eight ball?"

Nero rolled his eyes. He looked at her again. She shook her head. She stared at the papers in her hands. She had a meeting set up with a storage unit to go through the stuff in both houses. She also had appointments with a realtor to sell both houses in Charming and find a house somewhere close to Nero and the farm. She was going to do whatever she could to give the boys a healthy stable home no matter how much she wanted to get high.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything seemed to calm down about two months after the funerals. Wendy and the boys were at each funeral and the boys were very well behaved during each one. Wendy was doing what needed to be done for the houses and the shop. Chibs was the one who had the other half of the shop so that Wendy could take the boys from Charming. She sold both homes and put things in storage. She found a house close to the farm where Nero was at.

Abel started a new school and was adjusting well. He was in therapy with a child psychologist and was getting the help he needed to deal with the past. Thomas was growing like a weed and getting into everything. Wendy was sitting on the couch watching Thomas playing on the floor of their new home when an overwhelming wave of nausea hit her like a ton of bricks. She barely made it to the bathroom. Once she was done heaving she sat back on her heels trying to rack her brain as to when her last period was. She called Nero.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Can you come watch Thomas for a few minutes?" she asked.

"Yeah, you ok?"

"Yeah, I just need to run to the store and he is going down for a nap."

"All right, be there in a minute."

She heaved a sigh of relief over not having to take the little guy with her. She left as soon as Nero got there so she would be back before nap time was over and she had to get Abel from school. She headed to the local pharmacy and got what she was after. She bought three different tests just to be sure. She headed back to the house and straight for the bathroom. Nero only glanced her way as she went by. She took the first test and put it on the counter to watch the clock.

"Wendy, you ok?" Nero asked through the door.

"I don't know yet," she said.

She glanced at her watch and then at the test. The very distinct line was there already. She stared at it completely stunned. They had only been together one night before all this happened. There was no way that this test was right. She looked at the other ones still in their boxes. She opened the bathroom door and came face to face with Nero.

"What's going on?" he asked.

She held up the test. His jaw dropped. There would be another version of Jackson Teller for the world to deal with. She was most definitely pregnant according to the test.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Guess I am going to be a mom of three," she said.

"A blessing."

"Yeah, a miracle actually."

The doctors had told her after the birth of Abel she may not get pregnant again. This baby was more than just a blessing to her. She was stunned. She started looking up doctor's offices around the area. She was determined to make it this time. This child would be healthy and she was going to have a chance to do it right.

"I have to get Abel," she said.

She felt like she was walking around in a daze as she went to get Thomas up from his nap to go get his brother. Nero stopped her.

"Why don't you let me pick up Abel today, I can get him and Lucius at the same time," Nero said.

Wendy nodded. He headed out of the house. She sat on the couch to think about what she was going to do as far as this child went and how she was going to tell Abel that he was going to be a big brother again. It was new and very scary to her. She was doing this mostly on her own. She didn't have to work thanks to TM and the income that Chibs placed in an account for her from her portion of the shop. That made things a little easier on her but it was still going to be hard. She was already out numbered with the two boys.


	3. Chapter 3

The first appointment for the verification of the pregnancy was terrifying. She was being given another chance to have a child and be a mother from pregnancy. She was not going to screw this one up. She was determined to do everything that she was told to do. She was going to have a healthy baby and was going to do her best to raise all three kids the best way that she knew how. She was still in contact with the guys from SAMCRO because of the shop and she knew they would want to know.

Nero kept Thomas for the appointment so Wendy didn't rush home afterward. She went up to Charming to check on the shop and tell Chibs about the baby. The guys were heartbroken over Jax's request that the boys be raised away from the club. They were allowed to come around as long as they didn't wear their vests or talk about club stuff. They all did whatever it took to be around those boys. Now there would be another one.

"Chibs," Wendy walked into the office.

"How's it going?" he asked, looking up from what he was doing.

"Well I have big news."

"What?"

She handed him the paperwork. He stared at it for a moment. Then he looked back up at her.

"What is this?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant," she said.

He dropped the paper on the desk, stunned. She had tears running down her face. He got up from the chair to hug her. He called the other members that were left in so that they could be told.

"Jackson Teller's legacy lives on in three lives," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Tig asked.

"I'm pregnant and it's Jax's baby," Wendy said.

They were all stunned by the thought of another Teller baby. They were glad for another piece of Jax to still be around. There was already so much of him seen in Abel and in Thomas. Wendy hadn't told Abel yet. It was too much and she had to know that this baby was going to arrive. She wasn't going to let Abel down again. He had already had too many disappointments in his little life. She wasn't going to add to that with this news of another sibling.

*three months later*

Wendy was glad that Abel was excited about the baby. He was even more thrilled when he learned that this baby was his dad's child. He was with Wendy for her sonogram appointment. He wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl. They were going to try to find out that day. He wanted a sister so bad. She knew this and was worried that he would be disappointed if it was a boy. He followed her into the room.

"Are we finding out the gender today?" the woman asked.

Abel nodded. He wanted to know. The woman smiled.

"What do you want it to be, big brother?" she asked.

"A girl," Abel said.

"Well let's take a look."


	4. Chapter 4

"A girl", the tech said.

"I win", Abel grinned.

Wendy couldn't help but smile. Abel was very excited about having a sister. They left the appointment to go get ice cream. Abel sat at the table eating a hot fudge sundae. Wendy had a strawberry sundae. She was enjoying the one on one time she was getting with him. He was starting to open up to her. She was thankful.

"How is that sundae, bud?" she asked.

"It's good," he grinned.

"Well what do you think we should name this little lady?"

"I don't know."

"Well let's think about that."

Abel nodded. Wendy sighed. She had not even really named Abel. Jax had done that. He had named him while she was detoxing.

*two months later*

Wendy had picked out Harlee Jade Teller for her daughter. Abel had helped a lot with picking it out. He told everyone who would listen that he was having a sister. Thomas was still too little to understand what was going on. He knew there was new furniture coming in and the room was being painted.

"How is this little one?" Nero asked.

"She is good. Very active," Wendy said.

"How is the room coming along?"

"Great. You wanna see it?"

"Sure."

They walked down the hall to check on the room. It was painted light pink. Harlee's name was on the wall over the crib in light purple letters. The crib and changing table were both white. There was a bedding set that still needed to be put up after being washed sitting in the crib. There were a few outfits hanging in the closet. Nero was impressed with the way it was coming along.

"Do the guys know?" Nero asked.

Wendy nodded. They were just as excited as Abel was about the baby. She was finding it hard to deal with the pregnancy while dealing with the boys and no one really being around. She had no idea things would be this hard. She was struggling with the urge to find a dealer.

"Nero, I really want to go to a meeting," she said.

"All right hun," he replied.

"Can you watch the boys?"

"Sure can,"

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Wendy went to a meeting and felt much better about everything. The boys were in bed when she got home. She was able to relax and watch television until she went to bed. It was peaceful. She fell asleep with one hand on her growing belly. Her little girl was growing more everyday.

"Wendy?" was her wake up call.

She opened her eyes and came face to face with Abel. She smiled. He was already dressed for school. She got up and got ready to take him to school. Thomas was still in pajamas when they dropped Abel off for his day. Wendy took Thomas up to Charming to check on Teller-Morrow. He fell asleep on the way. She sighed. Chibs was in the office trying to sort thru the paperwork that had piled up on the desk. She sighed.

"How's it going here?" she asked.

"Not good lass," he said.

"I see that."

"How is Abel doing?"

"He is good. He loves his new school."

Chibs nodded. He was glad to hear that the boy was doing well. She shifted Thomas to the other hip. It was getting harder to hold him with her belly growing. Happy walked into the office. He reached for Thomas who grinned. Wendy handed Thomas over and sighed. She ended up working in the office most of the day until it was time to go get Abel from school.

"Abel your mom is here," a kid said.

"Hey mom," Abel grinned.

He jumped in the car. She smiled as she realized he called her mom.


	5. Chapter 5

She drove Abel to the house. He was talking a mile a minute about his day. Wendy was glad that she was able to take the boys. Days like this were exactly what she needed. Thomas was babbling in his car seat. She pulled up to their house. She got Thomas while Abel jumped out of the back. She unlocked the front door. Abel raced by her and into the kitchen. She put Thomas down in the living room and went to find a snack for all of them. She was worn out from this pregnancy.

"Mom," Abel said.

"What sweetie?" she asked.

"Can you sign this for my field trip?"

"What is it?"

"Here,"

He handed her the paper. She read it over and signed it. He stuffed it back in his back pack. She handed him a snack and smiled. He sat there eating his carrots and ranch. She got Thomas a fruit bar and put him in the high chair. The two boys munched on their snacks while she moved about the kitchen trying to decide what to make for dinner. Abel watched her.

"What do you want for dinner?" she asked him.

"Chicken," he replied.

"Sounds good,"

She settled on chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Abel ran off to play while she worked on making dinner. Nero came by with Lucius while she was working on it. She had made enough that they could eat as well. Nero was thankful that he didn't have to cook that night. Wendy was just glad for the adult conversation.

"How was your day?" Nero asked.

"Not too bad actually. Abel started calling me mom today," she said beaming with pride.

"That's awesome."

"He's really doing well considering how much he's missing his dad and Tara."

Nero nodded. They were trying to act as though things were the way they were supposed to be. Things were not right with how they landed. Jax should be there for the birth of this baby and for the two boys. Wendy was worried about the impending arrival of this baby. She didn't know how she was going to juggle three children. She looked at Nero who seemed to be reading her mind.

"It will be fine," he said.

"I just can't help wondering what will happen when she is actually here," Wendy said.

"You will just add her to the mix,"

Wendy nodded, still not feeling so sure. She was worried about how it would work but she was going to have to adjust. The boys were going to be doing more adjusting as well. They had all been doing a lot of that in the last year.

"It will all be fine," Nero said.

She nodded again. She knew going back to Charming and checking on the shop was not a good idea. She was going to have to find something in Norco to keep her occupied so she wasn't in Charming. It was the only way to make the adjustment easier. She was going to have to figure something out before Harlee arrived. She sighed.

"It's going to be ok," Nero said again.

"Yeah, I hope so," she replied.

*4 months later*

Little Harlee Jade Teller made her big debut, two weeks ahead of schedule. She was perfect. She reminded Wendy of Abel when he was first born. Wendy had Harlee in her arms when Nero came in with the boys. She smiled. Abel and Thomas both had on shirts proudly proclaiming that they were big brothers. Abel grinned. He got as close to Wendy's bed side as he could to look at his little sister.

"Hi sweetie," she said.

"Hi mommy," Abel said.

"Climb on up here."

Abel climbed up on the bed and edged closer to her. Wendy shifted Harlee so Abel could get a good look at her. He grinned. She smiled. Nero shifted Thomas to the other side so he could get a better look at the baby in Wendy's arms.

"Can I hold her?" Abel asked.

Wendy nodded and helped Abel hold the baby. He beamed like the proud big brother that he was. It made Wendy melt even further.


	6. Chapter 6

It was another two days before Wendy was able to take Harlee home from the hospital. The boys stayed with Nero during that time. He brought them up each day after Abel was out of school to her. They were so excited about her. She was very calm in the hospital, hardly cried at all. Wendy wondered how that would change once they were at home and she had the two boys to take care of. She found herself staring at her daughter wondering if Jax was watching over them. She wished he was there with her. The kids didn't deserve all that they were going through. They had been through so much in their short little lives. Abel had been through hell and back. He was slowly working through it all. She hoped she was able to keep him out of the life that they had left. She didn't want that for him any more than Jax or Tara had wanted it.

"What's wrong?" Nero asked.

"Nothing," she said.

"You sure?"

She nodded. Harlee stirred in her arms. She looked down at her. Thomas was asleep on Nero's shoulder. She was ready to go home. They were just waiting on the nurse. They were waiting for the doctor's final approval for her to be released. Wendy sighed heavily. She knew that everything was different this time. This newborn was not going to be ripped away from her and she had not messed up the pregnancy. She felt the guilt over Abel's delivery come back on her. She had really messed up when he was born and she regretted it completely. She had to do better this time and she had to do better for all three of them. They needed her. She looked up as the nurse entered the room.

"Dr. Harris just had an emergency delivery so it will be a little longer," she said.

Wendy could only nod. There wasn't much else she could do. She was stuck until the doctor came in to say yes they could go home. The waiting made Wendy nervous.

"I have to go get the boys. I will come back up after that," Nero told her.

She nodded again. He carried Thomas out to the car to go get Abel and Lucius from school. He was thankful that the boys were at the same school. It made things that much easier. He picked up the two boys without any incident and took them home. Lucius had a nurse that helped care for him when Nero had to take care of business. He was glad that he had the extra help. Lucius had a lesson in helping care for the horses on the farm so he was able to go back to get Wendy and Harlee.

"Is my mom coming home today?" Abel asked.

Nero nodded as he drove. They picked up the two with no issues this time. Wendy was ready to go when he got there. Dr. Harris had been in to see her and signed her release paperwork. Nero helped her get the baby in the car and helped her in as well. He took the four to their house and got them settled before returning home. Wendy was worried about doing this alone but she had to do what needed to be done. She was in pain from the delivery but at least she hadn't had a c-section this time. She fed the baby and then went to find something for the boys and herself to eat. They settled on pizza which was delivered. She got them eating and then went to give Thomas a bath. He was a complete mess after eating. He giggled and splashed. She had the baby in a bouncer in the living room with Abel.

"Mom," Abel yelled as Harlee started to whimper.

Wendy sighed.

"Give her the binky Abel, I'll be right there," she called back.

She pulled Thomas from the tub and dried him off. She put a pull up on him and dressed him in some pajamas. He followed her down the hall so she could get the baby. The two boys watched cartoons while she fed the baby. Wendy put Thomas to bed at 7:30 that night and Abel went down at 8:30, giving her time to relax with the baby. She got herself and the baby into bed by 11 PM. She was praying for an easy night.

What she got was the farthest thing from easy. Harlee was up every hour to eat and be changed. Thomas woke up crying at 3 AM. She got him calmed down and back in bed asleep when Abel woke up saying he had a nightmare. She was finally back in bed by 5 AM, just in time for Harlee to be hungry again. She wanted to just sit down and cry herself but that wasn't an option.

The phone ringing at 7 AM was the last straw. She snatched up the receiver.

"What?" she growled into the phone.

"Mrs. Teller," the voice on the other end said.

"It's Ms. Case, what do you want?"

"We have a person here who was brought in after a very severe accident."

Wendy's vision went white and she dropped the phone.


	7. Chapter 7

Wendy woke to Thomas patting her face and Abel standing over her with Nero by his side. She started to sit up but her head felt foggy. She stared at the phone that was lying next to her, not sure if she had imagined the phone call.

"We have someone here who was in a severe accident." was what she last heard.

There was no way. She had buried him. She knew that this was true. She wasn't going to allow herself to think that way but she was terrified by any other outcome.

"The phone," she managed.

"Tig was in an accident. He was on his way down here to meet Harlee." Nero told her.

"Is he ok?"

"He was critical for a few but they think he will pull through it."

Wendy nodded. The initial shock had worn off and she breathed a sigh of relief that Tig was going to be ok. She had no idea what would have brought him down to try to see Harlee. The guys all knew what Jax had wanted. There had to be more to it than that. She stared at Nero seeing that he was lying to her. She knew that he wasn't going to tell her while Abel was there. She would have to wait until Abel went to school that day.

"Come on Abel, let's get you ready to go to school," Nero told the young boy.

Wendy watched him cautiously go down the hall to get ready to go. Nero got her a glass of water and got a bottle for the baby. She took small sips while a million thoughts raced through her mind. Nero took Abel to school and came straight back. She felt better when he walked through the door. Harlee was in her arms. Thomas was watching cartoons and playing with his cars.

"What is really going on?" she demanded.

"They never found Jax's body. We buried an empty casket." Nero told her.

"I know this. They told us there was barely anything left after the accident. He hit head on."

"Someone who fits the description has been in a hospital south of here since then."

"Wait, What?"

"Jax may be alive."

She felt dizzy again and leaned back on the couch. She looked down at Harlee. There was no way that this was real. She was terrified that this was all a joke and someone was going to yell "Gotcha" at any moment. They got someone to stay with the kids so that she could see this for herself. The man they were going to find had been dead for almost ten months in her mind. Now they were telling her there was a possibility that he was alive. She was scared and excited all at the same time. Nero drove to the hospital in question.

"I'm Wendy Case," she told the receptionist. "I received a phone call about someone in an accident."

They were sent up to the ICU. Her hands started to shake as they got off the elevator. Nero put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. They walked up to the desk.

"I was called about someone in an accident," she told the nurse.

"What's your name?" the nurse asked.

"Wendy Teller."

"Right, just a moment."

The nurse did some checking on the computer. She looked up.

"A man was brought in quite a while ago. He had a cellphone with your number in it under your name. He had an ID on him as well." she said.

"Who is he?" Wendy asked.

"His name is Jackson Teller."

Wendy felt her knees go weak right there.


	8. Chapter 8

Once Wendy regained her ability to stand, the woman walked them down to the room. There was no way this was really happening. Wendy had to brace herself for this woman to be wrong while remembering that miracles do happen. She had Harlee to thank for her belief in miracles. She had gone through the procedure to have her tubes tied after she was told that another kid wasn't a good idea because of the complications with Abel. Harlee was truly a miracle baby. The doctor had told her there was a slim chance that the tube could grow back together but that was very rare.

Now here she stood, praying for another miracle. She glanced at Nero. The woman pushed open the door to the room and held it for them to walk through. Wendy's legs felt more and more like jelly as she stepped through the doorway. When she saw the man lying on the bed, she gasped. It was him. She instinctively reached for his hand. His eyes flew open. She started to pull away when she felt his hand close on hers.

"Jax," she whispered.

His eyes went straight to her face. She knew those ice blue eyes anywhere. She looked at Nero. He stepped closer to the bed. Jax's eyes never left Wendy's face. She really couldn't believe this was happening and couldn't stop herself from crying. His face clouded over when he saw the tears falling from her eyes.

"Don't," his voice was hoarse.

"I can't believe you are really alive," she said.

"Don't cry."

She reached up to furiously wipe the tears that wouldn't stop falling. There was no way they were really getting a new start and a new chance to make it work. The door behind them opened and a doctor walked in.

"I take it you are his family," he asked.

Wendy looked down at Jax who only nodded.

"Yes we are," she said.

"He has a long way to go still. He was in a coma until a few days ago. He was on a respirator for quite some time while his body healed. He did hit a truck," the doctor said.

Jax looked away when he said it. Wendy looked at the doctor. She was worried about the mental health of this on Jax. She knew what he was trying to do and it hadn't worked. She really didn't know if he was going to try again because he thought it was the only way to save his boys.

"He will spend a few months in our inpatient rehab facility." the doctor continued. "He has to learn how to walk again as well as a few other things. Once he completes that, he should be as good as new. He got lucky. It's rare to walk away from an accident like that and be able to lead a normal life."

Wendy nodded. She was worried about him. He looked at her again. She realized that her hand had not left his since she had walked into the room. He looked at the doctor. Nero sat down in a nearby chair. This was all too crazy for him. He knew that Gemma was really dead. She had been found in the garden at her father's place with Unser inside the house. He was glad that Wendy was getting Jax back but was worried about how it was going to affect them all as a family. He felt protective of Wendy and the kids. Jax didn't even know about his daughter.

"I'll let you visit for a while," the doctor said.

Jax nodded, as the nurse helped him by sitting the bed up. He never let go of Wendy. She was still staring at him. The nurse and the doctor walked out of the room.

"Jax, there is so much to tell you," Wendy said.

"The boys?" he asked, hoarsely.

"The boys are great. Abel loves his new school and Thomas can't wait to go to preschool. There is a surprise for you though,"

"What?"

"Well that last night before we went off to the farm with Nero,"

Jax nodded.

"Well I got pregnant. We have a daughter." she said.

His jaw dropped. He knew about Wendy having her tubes tied.

"She is a miracle, Jax. The doctor said that he has no idea how she was able to make it through the scar tissue from having my tubes tied and I say she was meant to be here." she said.

He nodded again. Wendy pulled out her phone to show him pictures of the kids. She showed him her favorite one, from the hospital right after Harlee was born. He smiled.

"Where are the kids?" he asked.

"Abel is in school. The other two are with Neeta. She came down to stay with them," Wendy said.

Jax frowned.

"I haven't taken them to Charming. Neeta is the only one who comes to visit. The guys are following your request. I have gone there a few times. It is hard Jax. That's the only part of you other than the kids that I have. It's hard to walk away from it." she said.

He could only nod. He couldn't blame her for not completely walking away but at least she kept the kids away from there.


	9. Chapter 9

Wendy and Nero stayed until they absolutely had to leave to be able to get Lucius and Abel from school. Wendy had promised to keep Jax a secret until he was able to come home to the boys. She had promised to bring Harlee up to the hospital the next day to meet her father and swore not to breathe a word about Jax to SAMCRO before Jax said it was ok to tell them. She knew they wouldn't stay away once they knew he was alive. She looked at Nero on the way to the kids school.

"I guess miracles really do happen," she said.

"That they do, I tried to tell you," he smiled.

Abel climbed into Nero's vehicle as they helped get Lucius in. Nero drove to Wendy's house first. She and Abel got out. Nero winked and smiled as she shut the door. She followed Abel up the stairs to the porch and into the house. Nero took his son home.

"Hey Neeta, how were they today?" she asked.

"Good as gold, as always," Neeta smiled.

Neeta loved the kids like they were her own. She was the go to sitter when SAMCRO needed someone to keep the kids. She had spent a lot of time with Abel when he was a baby.

"What are we doing for dinner?" Wendy asked.

"Chicken,"Abel replied.

She nodded. Neeta stuck around for dinner and to help Wendy with whatever she needed.

"Can you keep Thomas tomorrow?" Wendy asked.

"I sure can," Neeta smiled.

"Thank you, Harlee has a doctor's appointment and I have a few errands to run while Abel is at school."

Neeta nodded. She stayed over that night. It was easier than making the trip back to Charming just to return to Wendy's in the morning. It was nice to have someone in the house other than the kids to talk to for Wendy. If she had been alone, she would have spilled the beans about Jax and that would not have been good for any of them.

The next morning, she got up and gave her daughter a bath. She got a shower and got them both dressed to go. She loaded Harlee into her car and took Abel to school. She took Harlee to her doctor's appointment and then drove up to the hospital. Jax smiled as she walked in the door with the infant seat in her arms. He reached for the seat. She put it on the bed next to him. The smile on his face was a mile wide. She moved to unbuckle her daughter from the seat. The baby started to wake up. She pulled her from the seat and gave her a pacifier to keep her calm. She passed the little girl over into his lap. He smiled.

"Can you bring Thomas up tomorrow?" he asked.

"I thought you wanted to wait," she said.

"I can't wait. I want to see my boys,"

She laughed but nodded. She was worried about Abel and she told Jax that.

"I know it will be hard on him, especially after having my funeral," Jax told her.

"He has come a long way," Wendy said, "I just worry about him back tracking to where he was before."

"Well when does he go to counselling again?"

"Tomorrow,"

"Talk to his therapist and see what they think. If it's ok, then tell Abel there, they will be able to help him work through it."

Wendy had already planned on telling his therapist that Jax was alive. She wanted to be able have them help her find a way to tell the young boy that the father he had buried ten months ago was really alive and would be coming home eventually. Wendy could make out the scar on Jax's forehead that was from the accident. It went from his forehead to the back of his head. He had cracked his skull open and done a lot of damage to his body. He had recovered from multiple broken ribs, a fractured skull, broken leg and broken arms. He had cracked his pelvis and had to have his spleen removed. The doctor's hadn't thought he would make it. It was really only because they had been unable to get in touch with a relative to talk about pulling the plug that he had stayed on life support for the last nine months. It had really only been in the last few weeks that he had begun to show signs of life.

"I'll do what I can," Wendy told him.

He nodded. He was staring at the baby in his arms.

"I start therapy tomorrow," he said.

"Good."

"How was the funeral?"

"Whose funeral?"

"Mine,"

"Seriously Jax?"

He chuckled.

"I'll have to go see my grave stone. See if it lives up to what I think it should." he said.

She rolled her eyes. He smiled. He was definitely himself. Wendy wondered where their relationship was going to go after this. Was he going to want to come home to her house or was he going to go back to Charming? She was zoning out thinking about it.

"Wendy, whatcha thinking about?" he asked, pulling her back to reality.

"Us," she said.

"What about us?"

"Are you going to go back to Charming?"

"No, I'm not going to go back there. If they find out I'm still alive, I won't be for long,"

"What do you mean?"

Jax told her about the Mayhem vote and what the guys had done to protect him and let him do it his way. If anyone outside of that found out that he was alive, he would be killed. They would carry out the vote and he would be in the ground by his stone. He wanted to keep that from happening. Hitting the truck had changed something in him. He loved the guys from SAMCRO but he didn't want to live that life anymore. He wanted to continue to raise his boys and now his daughter away from Charming.

"I don't want anything to change. I will not go back there and I want to come home with you and the kids," he said.

"I really do love you Jax," she told him.

"I know you do, Wendy. I know our marriage was screwed up. I know the whole thing was my fault."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was. I was lonely and you filled that void from Tara. I don't want to have you just fill a void anymore. That was horrible of me to even do. It's most likely the reason I was never able to help you get off the drugs."

Wendy looked at the floor when he said that. He reached over and lifted her chin.

"I'm not that man anymore." he said.


	10. Chapter 10

On the drive to pick up Abel from school, Wendy did a lot of thinking. She had gone through a lot in the last ten months. Jax taking her to bed the night before he hit a truck, Harlee being born, and now Jax was back in her life. She couldn't believe that he was alive and was trying to wrap her brain around it every single time she saw him. He acted as if nothing had happened and nothing had changed. He was the Jax she had always wanted to be with. She just never imagined that this Jax would be the one coming home to her. He was always this way with Tara but had never really seen Wendy as anything but a junkie. She pulled up to the school. Abel came running to the car and climbed in. She smiled as he buckled himself in before leaning down to kiss his sister.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"Jimmy Jones was mean to me," he told her.

"What did he do?"

"He called me names and pushed me."

"What did you do?"

"I told the teacher and he got in trouble."

"Good boy."

She had been working on him using his words rather than his fists to keep himself out of trouble. He was doing a lot better. He was a good boy, he just had some of his father's violent tendencies. She would never forget the day he picked up the hammer and vowed that no one would ever hurt his baby brother. She knew then that it was going to be a lot of work to get Abel to where he needed to be.

"We go see Mr. Harris tomorrow," she told him.

"He's gonna be proud of me, huh Mom?" Abel asked.

"I be he will be buddy,"

Abel settled back in his seat with a smile on his face. He was proud of himself and that made Wendy even more proud of him.

"The office sent a note home," Abel told her.

"For your medicine?" she asked.

"I think so."

She nodded. She had known that he should be running low on his medication for his heart at school and had stopped to fill the prescription on her way home from seeing Jax. She was itching to tell Abel about his father but remembered her promise. She helped him with his homework as soon as they were home and made them all dinner. She had to give Thomas a bath after he and Abel came in from the sandbox.

"He kept pouring it in his hair, mom," Abel told her.

Wendy just shook her head and put Thomas in the tub. Abel sat on the toilet lid and watched his little brother play in the water.

"Mommy," Abel said.

"What?" Wendy looked up at him.

"Thomas and Harlee won't ever know daddy will they?"

"They will,"

"How?"

Wendy stopped to think for a moment. She didn't want to give away the secret before Jax was able to tell him everything himself.

"You and I can tell them everything we know about your daddy," she said.

"Not the bad parts," Abel said quickly.

"No buddy, not the bad parts. We can tell them about all the good times with daddy,"

Abel nodded. Wendy sighed. She was nervous about the whole conversation. He stared off into space for a few minutes. She glanced over her shoulder at him. He looked lost in thought. She went back to bathing Thomas. He was splashing and have a great time in the tub. She leaned over to let the water out of the tub and pulled him out in a towel.

"Can you go get Thomas a pull up please?" she asked, realizing she hadn't grabbed one from his room.

Abel nodded, and ran down the hall to get one. She looked down at Thomas. He giggled. Abel came back and gave her the pull up. She got Thomas dressed for bed. It wasn't long before he began rubbing his eyes and getting whiny. She put him down for bed. He crashed almost as soon as she laid him down. She was able to get two stories read to Abel that night before he went to bed. Before she went to bed herself, she nursed Harlee and said a silent prayer that everything would work out the way it was supposed to.

The next morning, she got all three kids dressed to leave the house. Abel went to school before Wendy made the drive to the hospital. As she entered the hospital room that was Jax's room, she had Thomas by the hand and Harlee in her infant seat. Jax smiled as they walked in. Thomas pulled back toward the door. Wendy sighed. This was going to be hard.

"Thomas, it's daddy," Jax said.

As soon as Thomas heard his voice, he made a beeline for the bed. Wendy set the infant seat down and lifted Thomas onto the bed. Jax hugged his son, tightly. The little boy clung to his daddy. Wendy had to fight back the tears she had in her eyes. Thomas let go and started babbling on about all kinds of things. A lot of it was baby babble but they were able to make out a few words here and there. Jax was amazed at how much Thomas had grown in the last ten months. Wendy was obviously doing a great job with him. He wanted to see Abel so bad but knew they had to wait until she talked to the therapist about the situation. They didn't want to throw off all the hard work that had been done. He had already come so far. It was not a good idea to mess that up.

"Abel asked me a question last night and I didn't know how to answer it," she said.

"What?" Jax asked.

"He asked me if Thomas and Harlee would ever know you."

"What did you tell him?"

"That we were able to tell them stories about you so they would know you. We could show them pictures."

Jax nodded. He knew this was hard on Wendy. He felt bad. He knew he was going to have to come clean about how the whole thing was set up in the first place. Him actually hitting the truck had been an accident. He wasn't supposed to hit it. His bike was supposed to go under it but he was supposed to be out of the way. He had people on standby with an ambulance if he needed anything. He was supposed to have been able to walk away clean and start a new life with Wendy and the boys. It wasn't supposed to turn into what it was now. The original plan was he fake his death by having his bike hit the truck, while he only really ended up with road rash. He was actually hit hard and the ambulance that arrived on scene took him to the hospital after declaring him dead on the scene. The two driving the ambulance took him to the hospital that was originally part of the plan but he was life flighted to the hospital he was at now and no one there knew of the plan. None of them thought he would make it so they told everyone that he was dead. They figured it was only a matter of time before he really was dead because of the damage he had done to himself.

Wendy was going to be angry with him about it. He just hoped she saw through it and realized why he had done it. The guys all thought he was dead now which gave him a completely clean break. He had toyed with the idea of telling his guys that he was alive but he wasn't sure how dangerous that really was and didn't know who had control anymore. He thought about asking Wendy but decided against it.

At 2:00pm, Wendy left to go pick up Abel from school for his appointment. She took Thomas and Harlee with her. It was killing her not to be able to tell Abel that his father was alive and that he didn't have to worry about telling Thomas or Harlee about him. Abel climbed into the car and buckled himself in. She drove to the center where he received his counselling. She had called the counselor on the way to the school to tell him about Jax being alive and giving him time to think about how to handle it. She told him that Abel had no idea but the other two had seen Jax.

"Ready?" she asked.

Abel nodded. They walked into the office. Abel had his hour long session with the therapist before they called Wendy in with the other two kids. The therapist nodded to Wendy.

"I think he's ready to hear it," Mr. Harris told her.

She was shocked.

"Hear what?" Abel asked.

"Abel, do you remember that phone call I got the other day?" she asked him.

"The one from Tig's accident?"

"Honey that wasn't about Tig, that was about your dad."

"My dad is dead."

"No sweetheart, your dad is alive. He was hurt very badly but he made it. He will be coming home to us in a few months."

Abel stared at her, trying to decide if she was lying or not.

"I want to see him." Abel told her matter of factly.

She nodded.

"We can go after we leave here," she said.

He nodded, looking at the therapist.

"Abel, are you ok?" Mr. Harris asked.

Abel nodded. It was a lot for the little boy to take in. He wanted to see for himself if it was true or not. Wendy drove them all up to the hospital after the appointment. Jax was not expecting them but she hoped that it was going to be all right.

"Who are you here to see?" the nurse asked.

"Jackson Teller," Wendy said.

"He is in his room,"

She nodded, leading the way to the room. Abel squeezed her hand the closer they got to the door. She glanced at him before opening the door. Jax looked over when he saw her.

"Wendy, I wasn't expecting you back," he said.

"I have a little boy who wants to see for himself that his daddy is alive." she told him.

Abel stared at him, not saying a word.

"Hi Abel," Jax said.

Thomas was trying to get on the bed. Abel shrank back next to the infant seat that Wendy had set down to be able to help Thomas get on the bed. Jax watched his oldest son trying to read what he was thinking. Abel looked down at his sister before looking back up at his dad.

"I'm glad you're alive," he said finally.

"Me too buddy, I've missed you." Jax smiled.

Abel took a deep breath before moving closer to the bed to hug his father. The same tears from that morning were in Wendy's eyes again. Jax hugged his son, not ever wanting to let go.


	11. Chapter 11

They stayed until visiting hours were over. Wendy promised Abel, they could come back that weekend to see him. She struggled to get Abel to go to bed that night. He was so excited that he was able to see his dad and he could talk to him again. She loved that he was happy about it but really wanted him to go to sleep.

"Abel, if you don't go to bed, we can't go back to see him," she finally said.

He lay down on his bed and grinned. She shook her head.

"I love you buddy," she said.

"Love you too," he reached up to hug her.

She kissed his forehead and tucked him in. She turned his light off on her way out the door. She had already gotten Thomas and Harlee to lay down and sleep. She couldn't believe how much things had changed in just a short amount of time.

*Saturday*

Wendy drove up to the hospital to see Jax with all three kids. Abel was bouncing off the walls about it. She shook her head as he talked a mile a minute the entire drive. They walked into the hospital room. Jax smiled as they entered. Abel helped Thomas climb up on the bed before climbing up on it himself. Wendy took Harlee out of the seat and handed her to her dad. She got a few pictures of Jax with all three kids before they took a family selfie. Abel giggled as she did it. Wendy was thrilled to see him so happy. He had been so torn up about everything and had been through so much. It warmed her heart to hear him giggle again.

"They are talking about moving me to outpatient therapy," Jax said.

"When?" she asked.

"As early as next week,"

"Are you progressing that well?"

"I have the strength back to my arms and I'm able to put weight on one leg right now."

"That's great Jax."

"I will be working on walking starting Monday."

Wendy nodded. This was all moving fast. They went from him being in inpatient therapy for months to him moving to outpatient within a week.

"So you may be home next week?" she asked.

"Are you not ready for that?" he looked at her.

"I'm ready for it. I just need to know if you are going to have to come up here for therapy every day or not,"

"We can find rehab down there somewhere. It shouldn't be that hard to have it transferred. I know it's a long drive up here."

"It's actually not that bad. We are only about a half hour from the house."

He nodded. She smiled.

"Wendy, I know we have been through some rough stuff. I know I was horrible to you and I'm sorry. I was just as big a screw up and I probably screwed up more than you ever have," he said.

"It's in the past and I want to keep it there," she told him.

He nodded again. She wasn't trying to remember all the horrible things they had been through in their life together. This was going to be a new start for them. She was going to make sure of it. Jax looked at the three kids surrounding him. He was amazed with how his life was going now. It was weird because he didn't think he would really still be alive. As he was headed for the truck and realized his timing was way off, his life had flashed before him. When he hit the pavement, he thought for sure that was it.

He was definitely blessed and he was going to use it to his full advantage. He was going to spend every moment he could with his kids and with Wendy. He didn't know where that was going to go but he wasn't against them trying again and making the family whole. He wanted to see what happened. He was up for anything. It was a whole new day for Jackson Teller.

*Monday*

Wendy had Lucius' nurse watching Thomas and Harlee while Nero and her went to get Jax. He came home with a wheelchair and strict instructions for his therapist that Wendy had found closer to home. She had actually gotten one from the same place that sent the nurse to Nero's house for his son.

"Ready?" Nero asked.

Jax nodded. It was hard for him to allow other's to help him with things. He also had crutches that he was supposed to practice his walking with. He was nervous about leaving the hospital. He didn't know who was watching them and who suspected anything. He was still paranoid about bringing danger to their door. Wendy acted as if everything was completely normal and nothing was going to change that. They got him into the truck and drove back to Wendy's house. The therapist had just arrived to meet him and go over the doctor's orders. Wendy took care of the kids while Jax worked with his therapist. She left him alone in the house with the man while she went to pick up Abel from school.

"Did daddy come home today?" Abel asked.

"Yes he did. He is at the house." Wendy told him.

They drove to the house. Wendy carried the baby while the other two hurried up the front walk. Wendy had gotten a temporary ramp put in place for Jax. She entered the house. Jax was hard at work with the therapist working on walking.

"Hi daddy," Abel grinned.

"Hi son," Jax smiled.

It was a great sight to see the two of them interacting together. Wendy was thrilled. Things were weird. Wendy didn't know where they stood so she had put Jax in the guest room. He seemed to be fine with that. She mentally smacked herself for even thinking he would come home and go straight into her bed. She sighed. They would figure it out in time. She knew that much. She got to work on dinner.

"Abel, come do homework," she called.

Harlee was asleep in the infant seat so she left her buckled into it. Thomas was playing with his cars on the floor. Abel walked into the kitchen and climbed up to the kitchen table. He started on his homework. She glanced back at him. He looked up and smiled. She made chicken and noodles with homemade mashed potatoes. It was Abel's favorite. She got it all dished up and got the two boys eating just as Jax's therapist left the house. She went to check on him. He was in the bathtub. She decided to leave him to it. He was doing really well getting himself around. He came into the kitchen just as she sat down to eat.

"Ready for some dinner?" she asked.

He nodded. She got up and got him some food. He looked at the two boys who were already on seconds. Thomas was a mess. He had noodles all over the high chair and mashed potatoes on his face. Wendy just shook her head. Once the boys were in bed that night, Wendy relaxed on the couch with Harlee in her arms. She was getting ready to nurse her when Jax came into the room. She glanced at him, knowing if she didn't nurse her daughter soon, the baby would wake Thomas up.

"You ok if I nurse her?" she asked.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," he smiled.

She rolled her eyes and adjusted to feed her daughter. Jax sighed heavily.

"Wendy, I know you didn't expect any of this, I didn't either." he said.

"It's fine Jax. We don't need to sort us out right now. We need to get you better and on your feet and focus on the kids. If something happens with us, then it's meant to happen. I don't want to force anything that we may regret later." she cut him off.

"Wendy, believe me, I do love you. It's been rough between us. Yes I was lonely when we met. I was beyond pissed when I found out you were expecting Abel and even more angry when he was born the way he was. I have moved passed that since you have been clean since that day. I know you were in a bad place and I didn't make it better. My biggest fear right now is when you find out all the truths that have been hidden that you will in turn hate me and we won't make it work."

"What truths?"

He took a deep breath, knowing he had to tell her since he had already put his foot in his mouth.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry this one is so short. I update during naptime and kids are waking up early. hope you all have a great weekend!**

Wendy sat there staring at him, expecting him to talk. She wanted to know what he was getting at. Harlee was still nursing.

"The accident was planned," Jax said.

"What do you mean planned?" she asked.

The entire story came falling out of his mouth. Wendy didn't say a word, she just stared at him. He got more and more worried the more he talked. He was hoping she wouldn't hate him.

"Please say something," he said.

"I don't understand how everyone thought they could get away with this without getting you killed," she said.

"It was a long shot but I had to try,"

"And what if you would have actually died?"

"It would have been how the last ten months has been. I know it was awful of me, but you have to believe me that I had you and the kids in mind when I did it. I was not going to be able to just walk away. It was going to be death for me. If I had stuck around to meet Mr. Mayhem, I would have never stood a chance."

She nodded. She knew he was right. They would have never just let him go. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. She knew the thought was not the easiest to deal with and she knew that she would have never been able to do it herself. She was thankful that he was around and she was upset with the situation but she knew that it obviously had to be done. Harlee stopped nursing so she moved the baby to burp her. Jax stared at her. It made her completely self conscious.

"Sorry," he said, looking away.

"It's all right Jax." she replied.

She knew that to stand a chance they would have to move past what Jax was for the club and move on to who he was going to be now. He was going to have to be a father and role model to the kids. She had done it on her own for months and now she was going to have full time in house help with the kids. She was glad for that.


	13. Chapter 13

When Abel came home from school that day, he was very excited to show off what he had done. They had to draw a picture of their home and their family. Abel had drawn in Wendy, Jax, Thomas, Harlee, Tara, and Gemma. He had given both Gemma and Tara wings because they were no longer on earth. He sat telling Jax all about his picture. Wendy moved to get the phone as it began to ring.

"Hello," she said.

"Wendy," Chibs said.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know the check is on its way. Things got crazy here this week. I just got your half out."

"All right, that's fine."

She signaled to Abel to keep it down and moved away from where they were sitting to keep Chibs from hearing anything Abel said.

"How are the kids?" he asked.

"They are good, Abel just got home from school. Thomas is talking more all the time and Harlee is growing like a weed," she replied.

"We miss them,"

"I know Chibs. You know how Jax wanted it though. He wanted the boys as far away from the club as possible."

"Aye."

Chibs sounded really sad and that upset Wendy to hear but she had to keep her family safe. Jax looked at her. She shook her head.

"I've gotta let you go though so I can go get dinner going," Wendy said.

She got off the phone and headed into the kitchen. Jax followed on his crutches.

"That was Chibs?" he asked.

She nodded, wanting to leave it alone. Jax sat at the kitchen table.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Just that the check is late going into the bank account," she said.

Jax nodded.

"They miss the boys as well," she said.

Jax sighed heavily. He knew he couldn't let them know he was still alive and the guys seeing the boys would give it away instantly. No way would the boys keep it a secret. They both knew it. Abel was drawing pictures at school that proved that. Jax looked over as Thomas came into the kitchen. Abel was off doing homework. He pulled his son into his lap. Wendy sighed as she pulled out the stuff to make dinner for them all. She knew what Jax was thinking. She also knew how broken the guys were over Jax and not seeing the kids. She didn't know how to make any of that better without the added issue of Jax actually being alive causing a problem.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

She shook her head. She wasn't going to get involved with that drama when she had just gotten him back around. She wasn't going to put the kids through it again and risk him really ending up in the ground. She wanted him there to see their kids grow up and become adults. They would make their own path and she would deal with it all then. She was going to push it out of her mind and focus on their little family. Neeta didn't even know about Jax being alive. It was a well hidden secret. Wendy was enjoying having him home with the kids.

*two months later*

Jax was finishing up his therapy. Wendy was preparing for Thomas' third birthday. She was thankful to have Jax there to be able to help her with everything. It was crazy. She bought decorations and ordered a cake for him. She bought presents that she hid in her room so that no one would see them. She would wrap them after the boys went to bed. Jax looked over as she walked back in the door after her shopping trip.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"Good, I will show you after they go to bed," she said.

He nodded. They had been regaining that friendship they needed to build to be better to each other. If it blossomed into more, they would go with it but they were letting things move at their own pace. There was no need to rush it at all in either of their minds. She picked Abel up from school at 3 and went home to the rest of them. Nero called to ask when the party was. She gave him the details. There were a few gifts in the mail from the club in Charming. She sighed but knew the guys weren't going to just give up on the boys. They wanted them to know them as family, not the club. The guys had grown from everything that had happened with Jax. They had worked toward moving into legit business ventures rather than continuing the illegal ones. The porn business had really taken off for them. Nero was loving his cut of everything.

Once bedtime rolled around, Wendy was exhausted. She had taken care of bath time for all three and read stories before bed. She moved around the house, getting them ready to go to bed and tucking them in. Jax said goodnight to all three. Harlee was finally sleeping through the night which Wendy was glad about. She went to her room and started pulling out the gifts she had bought. Jax stood in her doorway.

"You can come in, ya know?" she said.

He walked in and sat on the edge of her bed. She showed him each gift she had gotten and they wrapped them together. Jax looked up from what he was doing and stared at her. She was concentrating on the box she was trying to wrap. He just stared at her.

"Why are you staring?" she asked, not looking up.

"If you realized how beautiful you are, wrapping gifts for Thomas,"he started.

She looked up at him.

"Where are you going with this?" she asked.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking," he said.

"About?"

"You and how you took on Thomas even after everything that happened with Tara and me with Abel."

"It's not his fault you guys were jerks."

Jax shrugged, knowing she was right.

"We weren't real nice to you, I know this. But I'm still happy that he was able to come with his brother and stay with you. I know he loves you." he said.

"I love him as well, Jax. He didn't choose to be born into all this anymore than Abel asked to be born the way he was. I know I screwed up royally with Abel in the beginning but I have turned it all around. I know you think so, since you left them to me, but I am grateful that you feel that way." she replied.

Jax moved forward. Wendy braced herself, wondering if the kiss was the right thing to happen. As soon as their lips touched, she knew it was ok, and let herself melt into it. He moved in a second time and she moved the box from between them. He pulled back and smiled.

"I still want to see where this is going to go," he said.

"Tonight or forever?" she asked.

"Forever,"

She nodded, still breathless from his kiss. They finished wrapping gifts in silence. She sighed when he walked out of the room to go to his own room for the night.


	14. Chapter 14

When she got up the next morning, she couldn't help but replay the night before in her head. She moved about the kitchen making breakfast for them all. She heard Harlee begin to cry down the hall. She started down to get her when the crying stopped. She thought it was weird but went back to the kitchen to continue on breakfast. Abel made his way into the kitchen in his pajamas followed by his little brother. Jax appeared in the doorway with Harlee in his arms.

"She's hungry," he said.

Wendy nodded. He put the baby in her arms. She had already handed plates to Thomas and Abel. She went to the living room to feed her daughter. Jax stayed in the kitchen with the boys. It was going to be weird now. She could already tell. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was supposed to be able to make it through all of this and not get confused. She sighed heavily to herself as she settled on the couch with Harlee. The little girl was ready to eat. Wendy got her nursing and leaned back against the couch. She stared down at the baby in her arms still unable to completely believe that she was here. She was certain she was going to wake up and this was all just a dream. Jax walked out of the kitchen and leaned on the door frame. He was doing much better walking. He wasn't going to be running any marathons any time soon but his gait was almost back to normal.

"You ok?" he asked.

She shrugged. He sighed and folded his arms across his chest.

"I didn't want to confuse you," he said.

She nodded.

"I just know to fix all of this, we have to go slow. Plus I was told to avoid a relationship while I was still recovering," he said, like that just fixed it all.

"Whatever Jackson," she replied.

"Wendy, I mean it."

"I hear you,"

Harlee finished eating. Wendy moved her, covered herself and burped the baby. Jax sighed and turned to check on the boys. He did it too fast and almost lost his balance. Wendy looked up. He swore at himself under his breath.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied.

He looked at his two boys happily eating the pancakes that had been made for them. Abel was almost done with his. Thomas had syrup all over his face.

"Abel finish up so you can go get ready for school," Jax said.

He moved to the sink to get a wash cloth to clean Thomas up when he was done. Abel put his plate in the sink and took off down the hall. This was what a normal family went through on a daily basis. Jax realized he had no idea what normal really was. His life up until now had completely revolved around the club. He had never really been in a home where they did the normal things such as breakfast, and getting ready to go to school every morning. Even in elementary school Gemma hadn't really forced him to go to school. If he didn't want to go, he stayed at the shop all day. He wasn't going to let that be his kids. He wanted more for them. Wendy came into the kitchen with Harlee in her arms. She glanced at the table.

"You getting sticky boy cleaned up?" she asked.

Jax nodded. Thomas looked up and grinned. Abel came running back into the kitchen fully dressed for school. Wendy nodded her approval. He went to find his shoes and back pack. Jax cleaned Thomas up and took him down the hall to get him dressed. Wendy took Abel to school then made her way back home. Jax was in the living room with Thomas watching cartoons when she walked in. Harlee was in the swing a few feet from the couch.

"Abel just asked me if we were getting back together," Wendy said.

"What?" Jax asked.

"Abel, he asked if we were gonna be his mommy and daddy together."

"What did you tell him?"

"That we both love him and his siblings very much and he didn't need to worry about adult things."

Jax nodded. She sat in the chair facing him.

"We have to talk about last night," she said.

"What about it?" he asked.

"Well it's not like it didn't happen."

"I know."

"We can't take it back and to be honest I'm glad it did happen."

"Wendy,"

"Shut up and hear me out."

"Fine."

"I've been here with these three kids by myself for almost a year, thinking that entire time that you were dead. I wanted nothing more than to have you back in our lives. Things were hard being pregnant with Harlee with the two boys and having to help them work through their own grief while trying to hide my own. I haven't stopped loving you Jax. You gave me two beautiful kids that have come from me and another handsome little man who was just yours. I know I screwed things up with the drugs and I wonder if we could have made it if I hadn't been so doped up all the time. I ruined everything I touched back then and I've done everything I can to prove that it's not like that anymore. I've put them before me. I've been the one there when they have been sick, when Abel needs help with his homework, hell when you needed something and a nurse wasn't around. I don't deserve to have my emotions played with anymore."

Jax stared at her, surprised at the way she was just very blunt with him. He couldn't help but see her in a new light. She had changed a lot since they had been married. She wasn't the same girl he had drank with so many nights. She was no longer that girl with a needle in her arm in his dorm room at the clubhouse. She had become a mother and a woman who would fight for the kids she loved so much.


	15. Chapter 15

Jax did a lot of thinking that day. He stayed in his room unless there was someone there who needed him where they needed him. He had to decide what he wanted to do. He couldn't toy with Wendy. He couldn't mess with the kid's lives and he knew it. He wanted to be there with all of them.

Wendy did what was needed for the boys. She got them ready for bed and into bed before she knocked on Jax's door. He pulled it open.

"What's up?" he asked.

"The boys want to say goodnight," she said.

He nodded. He walked down the hallway to the bedrooms to say good night to his boys. She disappeared into her room with Harlee. He sighed as he walked into Abel's room.

"Hey son," he said.

"Hey dad," Abel replied.

"You ready for bed?"

"Yup, just waiting on you,"

"Here I am,"

Abel laughed. Jax sat on the edge of his son's bed. Abel looked at him.

"Dad, are you and mom getting together?" he asked.

"What?" Jax asked.

"You and mom?"

"Bud, I don't know what we are doing."

Abel stared at him. Jax didn't want to lie to him. He wasn't sure what was going to happen between him and Wendy. Now that there was no chance in hell that Tara was going to be coming back, he wondered what it would be like. He had put Wendy through all kinds of hell when they were married but that was when he had the club. He didn't have the club now so all he had was this family. He was thankful that he still had them but he worried about his kids. He worried about how this was going to affect them all together. He kissed the top of his son's head and headed to say goodnight to Thomas.

"Night buddy," he said.

"Ni-ni," Thomas replied.

He was already laying down and half asleep. Jax turned the light out as he went. He then headed back to his room. Wendy was in her room with Harlee still so Jax just went to bed. He was worn out and his leg had been bothering him a lot that day. He had a lot to think about still when it came to his son's.

The next morning, Abel was already off to school when Jax got up. He walked into the kitchen where Wendy was making breakfast of cinnamon rolls for Thomas. He sat down at the table.

"Morning," Wendy glanced his direction.

"Good morning," he replied.

"How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good actually. You?"

"Not too bad."

Jax yawned. Thomas glanced at him and grinned. Harlee was sleeping in the bouncer. Jax looked at both kids, knowing what he needed to do. He needed to put his family back together. He needed that and so did they. Wendy was busy with the cinnamon rolls and not paying any attention to him. He stood up from the table and walked over to her. He planted his hands on her hips causing her to jump. He leaned down and put his lips to her collarbone. She leaned back into him.

"I need you," he said, softly.

"Jax," she started.

"No I've thought about it. I want this family. I want us to figure it out. I want to make things right, Wendy. You were right, you have been through hell and you didn't deserve the last year of the shit you went through. I thought what I was doing was for the best for all of us. I was wrong,"

She pulled away from him and stared at him. Thomas was sitting at the table watching the two of them. He looked confused. Jax sighed heavily. Wendy put the rolls in the oven and sat down at the table with Thomas. Jax leaned against the counter.

"Wendy?" he asked.

"Jax, give it time, please," she said.

"Wendy, we have to talk at some point."

"We will, I just don't want to do it in front of the kids."

Jax nodded. He knew she was right. She was doing what was best for the kids. She was trying so hard and he knew it. Once Thomas had breakfast, he ran off to play. She went to feed Harlee. Jax went to the living room and sat down. Wendy was sitting in the recliner with Harlee in her arms.

"Jax," she said.

He looked over at her.

"Are you serious about all this?" she asked.

"I am, Wendy. You have been through a lot in the last year and it's my fault. I should have planned it out better. I screwed up and you paid for it," he said.

"Jax, don't do this just because you're living here."

"I'm not. I need to figure life out. I have never known what a real family is. I know that now. My entire childhood was club and that's what I knew. My own father had another family. I found that out when Abel was kidnapped. I have a sister out there."

"Really?"

"Belfast. Her name is Trinity."

Jax spent the rest of the day spilling majority of what had happened since Abel was born. He apologized for everything he had put her through. He apologized for the speedball he had injected into her when she had threatened to go after Abel. Wendy just nodded.

"I was fucked up in the head. I know I did some dirty shit. I shouldn't have done any of it and still you took both boys. You could have left Thomas and let him go to foster care. You didn't have to take him," Jax said.

"I was not going to allow my son's brother to go to foster care. There is no reason for that when it wasn't even his fault. He had nothing to do with the things that I went through. He didn't cause any of it," Wendy replied.

Jax nodded. He sighed heavily.

"Jax, let's take this slow. I want to make sure it's what we both want," she said.

"I'm fine with that. I just want a chance to make it right. I want to make up for the past and try to be a family for our kids," he said.

"Fine."

"I do love you,"

"I believe you. I just don't know where my heart is right now. We have been through so much and the kids have been through so much."

"I know they have. I know that's my fault."

She nodded. She wasn't going to deny any of that. Jax sighed.

"I just don't want to upset the kids," she said.

"I don't either," he replied.

"They don't need the confusion. Abel is already in therapy and he's only six."

"I know."

"It will be all right. He has been making some really good progress. His therapist wants you to come in for a session with him."

Jax nodded. He was nervous about going with him. He knew he was the root of Abel's problems and the reason that the little boy had done a lot of the things he had done. He knew he needed to do it for his son though. Wendy watched him for a moment. The baby had finished nursing and she was now burping her. Jax leaned back on the couch. Thomas came running into the room.

"Daddy," he said.

"What?" Jax asked.

"Can we go outside and play?"

"Yeah bud, we can do that."

Jax got up from the couch. He went outside with his son and pushed him on the swing. Thomas smiled. He liked being able to spend time with his dad.

"You excited for your birthday?" Jax asked him.

Thomas nodded enthusiastically. He was very excited to turn three. Jax smiled. He was glad that he was going to be to see his son turn three years old. He wished that the boy's mother was still alive but knew she was more than likely watching over him. He hated that things had turned out this way. He knew his kids had paid the price for all of his decisions but they seemed to be doing very well. Abel was working through everything he had seen and heard. Thomas was doing great and had adjusted well. He watched Thomas play and glanced up at the house. Wendy had just walked out onto the deck with Harlee in her arms. She sat down on a chair with the baby in her arms. Jax couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

"Daddy," Thomas pulled him from his head.

"What's up bud?" Jax asked.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

Thomas stared at him. Jax smiled at his son and hugged him. Thomas looked up at the deck before running off to the sandbox. He was glad to have them both with him at home. On the deck, Wendy shifted the baby in her arms. She smiled. She enjoyed watching Thomas run around the backyard with Jax not far behind. She knew Jax was going to be worn out soon. He was building his strength back up but it was hard for him. He was easily worn out from dealing with the kids. He made his way up to the deck and sat down in a chair next to Wendy. She smiled and passed Harlee over to him. He stared down at his daughter, still unable to believe that she was really here. The baby fit comfortably in his arms.

"How you feeling?" she asked.

"I'm ok, just tired still," he replied.

A car pulled into the driveway. Wendy got up and walked through the house. She went to the front door. Nero had just pulled in. He smiled when he saw her on the front step. She sighed.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"It's going," she said.

"How's Jax doing?"

"He's good, he's outback with Thomas and Harlee."

Nero nodded. Wendy stepped back to let him in the house. They walked to the back deck. Jax reached out and shook his hand. He had always had a lot of respect for Nero and what he had done for them. He was glad that he had been there to support Wendy throughout the pregnancy with Harlee and was there for the boys.

"How's it going?" Nero asked.

"Getting there," Jax told him.

"How are the kids handling you being home?"

"Thomas loves it. Abel's doing well with the adjustment but he is still seeing the shrink."

Nero nodded again. Thomas came running up onto the deck. He threw himself into Nero's lap and hugged the man. Wendy sat back down in the chair she had been in. Jax looked over at her.

"I'm thankful," Jax said.

"Yeah?" Nero asked.

"I am. I owe Wendy my life at this point. She didn't have to come up there. She didn't have to allow me to come here. She could have left me in that hospital."

Nero nodded. Jax was right. Wendy didn't have to do any of that but she did for the kids. She was feeling confused. Nero had taken a step back from them since Jax had been home but she was glad that he was still around. She worried that it was just one more person taken from the boys. She didn't want that for them just because their father was back around. Jax sighed. He had wondered if there was something going on between Wendy and Nero before he had come back into the picture. He shifted the baby in his arms. He glanced at Wendy who wasn't even looking at him. That thought hadn't even crossed his mind when he had come back around. He hadn't thought about it being a year since he had been around. He hadn't thought about all of the shit he had put her through and how he didn't really deserve for her to give him any type of shot at being in her life.

"You ok, mano?" Nero asked.

Jax shrugged. He wasn't sure how he felt now. There was guilt from barging back in their lives again in such a way that commanded he be the center of it all. Wendy looked at him funny.

"What's wrong Jax?" she asked.

He shook his head. He didn't want to dive into it with Thomas right there. He wasn't even sure he wanted to discuss it with Nero there.

"I'm good, just doing some thinking," he said.

"About what?" Wendy asked.

"This whole situation."

"What about it?"

He shook his head again. She sighed. He smiled at her.

"It's all right," he said.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Yeah."


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning, he woke up still completely unsure. He could hear the kids down the hall as Wendy got them ready for their days. Abel had school while the other two would be at home. He knew he should get up but the whole thing felt off. He didn't feel right about any of it. He heard a light knock on his door and the door creak open.

"Daddy," Abel climbed onto the bed next to him.

"What bud?" Jax asked.

"You coming down for breakfast? Mom wants to know,"

"Yeah buddy, I'll be down in a minute."

"How come you won't take me to school?"

"Bud, I have to be cleared by the doctor to be able to drive again. My accident hurt a lot. I promise once the doctor says it's ok to drive again, I will take you to school."

"Ok."

Abel was satisfied with his answer and headed out of the room. Jax threw back the covers and got up. He pulled on a pair of sweats and headed down the stairs. Wendy glanced up at him as she sat at the table with the boys. Harlee was in her lap. Jax smiled as he thought about how they looked like a normal family.

"You sleep ok?" Wendy asked.

"Yeah, it was fine," he said.

"Abel, finish up. You don't want to be late,"

Abel finished eating and headed down the hall to get the rest of his stuff for school. He was ready to go in less than ten minutes. Wendy stood up from the table and put Harlee in Jax's lap.

"I'll be back, will you be ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, I got this," he said.

"All right."

She ushered Abel out of the house. She took him out to the car and drove him to school. He ran into the building. She headed back to the house to make sure things were going decent. Thomas was done eating and Jax was attempting to change Harlee's diaper. She had to stand back and chuckle as she watched him.

"Not the same as the boys is she?" she asked.

"Definitely not," he smirked back at her.

"You want to tell me what was going through your head last night?"

"Just cutting straight to it huh?"

"Yeah, Thomas is busy and she's not going to be an issue."

Jax sighed. He finished up the diaper and picked his daughter up. She fussed a little bit. Wendy held her arms out. Jax passed her over. He knew he wasn't going to get away with not answering her.

"Well?" she asked.

"Wendy, this life is so much more than I deserve. I don't deserve to know my kids. I don't deserve to be allowed to come barging back into whatever life you were working on here," he said.

"Jax, no matter what you are their father. You may have done some awful things but these kids see you as a hero. The most you can do now is try to redeem yourself. Make yourself into who they believe you are. As far as barging back into my life, what do you mean?" she asked.

"Did you have something going with Nero?"

"No, he has just been a big help with the kids. He was here when I needed someone to talk to. Our relationship is and always has been strictly platonic. He's a really good friend."

Jax nodded. She shifted Harlee in her arms and moved in before he knew what was going on. She pressed a kiss to his lips. He was surprised by it. She pulled away and smiled.

"You are their dad and I knew what I was doing when we slept together that night. I have always loved you but then was a bad time for us both really. I mean that was our biggest issue. You weren't over Tara leaving and I was into partying. I know you will always love Tara." she said, sadly.

"I will always love her, but that doesn't mean I don't love you," he said.

"I don't doubt that, Jax. I just don't want to rush this like we did before."

He nodded. She smiled again as Thomas yelled for Jax down the hall.

"Duty calls, dad," she said.

He laughed and walked off to see what his son wanted.


	17. Chapter 17

Jax walked into the room his son was in. Thomas looked up from the floor. He was struggling with his shirt which made no sense to Jax as the boy had been dressed already.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"New shirt," Thomas told him, simply.

"Why?"

"That ones yucky,"

"Where is it?"

"There."

Thomas pointed to the floor where his shirt was at. Jax picked it up to find it covered in vomit. That really threw him off.

"Did you get sick buddy?" Jax asked.

He was trying to figure out how Thomas threw up and they hadn't heard him.

"Wendy," Jax called.

She came down the hall and stopped in the doorway.

"What happened?" she asked.

"I guess he got sick," Jax said.

"You got him?"

"Yeah but how did this happen without us hearing him?"

"I don't know."

Thomas looked up at them.

"You doing ok bud?" she asked.

He shrugged. His cheeks were flushed. Jax helped him put his shirt on and helped him get into bed. She went to get the thermometer from the bathroom. Jax smiled. Wendy sat on the edge of Thomas' bed to take his temperature.

"100.7" she said when the thermometer beeped.

"Poor kid," Jax sighed.

Thomas' eyes drooped. Wendy went to get some children's Tylenol for him. Jax was glad that she knew what to do because he was helpless in this position. He hadn't had to deal with the kids when they were sick. Tara had always been the one to deal with them. Thomas yawned. Wendy gave him a dose of medicine and ushered Jax out of the room.

"Resting is the only way to get better. We can keep an eye on his temp and if it gets worse I can call the doctor," she said.

Jax nodded. She closed Thomas' door. Jax went to check on the baby. Wendy was glad that they didn't have to worry about her working and having to leave Jax with the kids by himself. She followed Jax down the hall and took a seat on the couch. He had taken Harlee out of the swing. She smiled watching him with the little girl.

"She really loves you," she said.

"Well I would hope so. I love her too," he replied.

"Good."

He glanced at the clock. Their days together were pretty routine. He wondered how long it would be before they were both bored and at each other's throats. He worried about how that was going to work. She looked over at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Just wondering how long it will take before we get sick of each other," he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"We're here every day doing the same thing."

"It's all right Jax. I have been doing this for a year now. I think we'll be fine. The only person who will get bored being around here all the time is you,"

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you are used to being on the move."

"I'll be fine. I can always go outside and work on something."

"True,"

"I guess neither of us should be worrying about it then,"

"Guess not."

She busied herself with house chores and checking in on Thomas. Jax lounged around until Nero showed up to take him to the gym he had been working at to gain his strength back. He thought about looking for a job as soon as he was cleared by the doctor but he didn't know if it was a good idea. No one was supposed to know he was alive. He was wondering if they should stay in Norco or if they should move somewhere didn't like the idea of uprooting the kids but he also didn't like the idea of being forced to stay in the house for the rest of his life. He needed to have a life too. He needed to be there for his children and having to stay in the house all the time was not going to allow that to happen. He sighed as he was working out.

"What's wrong mano?"Nero asked him.

"Just been doing a lot of thinking," Jax said.

"About what?"

"Just life in general."

"Things going ok at home?"

" Yeah they're fine. I'm just wondering how it's all gonna go when I'm completely cleared by the doc. I mean staying home all the time is gonna get old, fast,"

"Yeah that's probably true,"

"I just know I don't want to ask Wendy to move the kids and I don't want them to have to pay for the shit that's happened to me."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't go anywhere outside of this place to do anything. I can't have that life for my kids. I have to keep myself going for them. I can't ask them to move. I just don't know."

Jax sighed heavily. He didn't know what to make of the whole thing. He stared at the weights in front of him. He was getting stronger every day. He looked at Nero. The older man looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Jax, they don't know anything about this town and they don't come here," he said.

"Really?" Jax asked.

"They have been busy with everything that has gone on. They are trying to get everything situated still from when you hit that truck,"

"Yeah I guess that left a pretty big shit storm huh?"

"Yeah it did. You killed off a lot of the big ones and things have to be righted before they even think about coming down here to deal with anything. Wendy and the kids aren't really on the radar."

"Well that's good to know,"

"You two will be safe here with the kids, I promise that. Even if you have to come to my house to get away from it all. I know of other places you can go that they won't find you. I also know that your guys won't turn you in for still being alive. I know this for certain. None of them were happy with how things happened."

Jax nodded. He was ready to get home to Wendy and the kids. He felt better about everything. He wondered how Thomas was doing. Nero took him back to the house and helped him inside. Wendy looked up as they came in the house.

"How was your work out?" she asked.

"Good," Jax said, heading down the hall.

Nero took a seat on the couch looking at her.

"How's he doing Nero?" she asked.

"He's ok, just had a few nerves," Nero said.

"What do you mean?"

"Worried that he's going to be found,"

"By who?"

"The club."

"Oh,"

"He doesn't want to feel like he has to move you guys and he doesn't want to cancel out what you two have going on here with the kids,"

Wendy nodded. She hadn't even thought about it. Jax came back down the hall in a pair of sweats. She looked over at him. Nero stood up.

"I'm gonna get going. I'll see you two tomorrow," he said.

Wendy nodded. He walked out the door. She looked at Jax.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

"Nero told me what you were thinking,"

"I figured he would,"

She nodded. He sighed.

"Jax, no matter what, our place is with you. The kids need you and I have no plans on going anywhere," she said.

He nodded. He sat down on the couch next to her. She moved closer to him and put her arms around his neck. He just stared at her. She leaned forward and kissed his lips.

"We are a family," she said.

He nodded again. She got up from the couch.

"I'm gonna check on Thomas again and then I have to go get Abel from school," she said.

"Ok," he replied.

She walked down the hall. He watched her go wondering how he got lucky enough for a second shot.


	18. Chapter 18

She came back with Abel. He ran in the house and to the table to do his homework. She got him a snack and went to decide what to do for dinner that night. Jax walked into the dining room where Abel was working at the table.

"What you got tonight?" he asked.

"This," Abel showed him the packet he had to do.

"Looks like you're doing a good job,"

Abel nodded without lifting his head to look at his dad. Jax sighed and got up from the table. Thomas ran into the room and jumped on his dad.

"Come on buddy, let's let your brother do his homework," Jax said.

He carried Thomas out of the room. Abel looked down at what he was doing. He was trying to hurry through it so he could go play with his dad as well. Wendy appeared in the doorway.

"You only have to do a page of that tonight, Abel," she said.

He threw down his pencil and took off after his brother and father. Jax laughed as Abel tackled him. Wendy was glad that the kids had their father around. Abel had become so much more playful in the weeks after Jax had come to the house. His therapist was amazed how far he had come and how much happier the kid was. Abel didn't have to share Jax with the club anymore. Jax was around more and they figured that was what did it.

*Christmas*

Wendy had been going out and buying gifts for the kids and Jax. She had no idea that Jax had something up his sleeve for her. He had Nero's help in the whole thing but he was excited about it. Things had been going quite well for the two of them. They were getting closer again and Jax had even moved into her bedroom. She couldn't have been happier. Her daughter had started sleeping through the night. The boys were doing well with everything going on. Abel had cheered when he was told that they were together again.

"Mom," Abel came into the room.

She yawned. He jumped up on the bed between her and Jax. She smiled.

"Merry Christmas," he said.

"Merry Christmas handsome," she replied, "Are your brother and sister up yet?"

"Harlee is. Thomas is still sleeping,"

"Guess I should go get your sister then huh?"

Abel nodded. She got up from the bed and started out the door. She heard Abel start laughing. She glanced back to see that Jax was awake and had grabbed him. Jax leaned down to kiss his son's forehead.

"Where'd mom go?" Jax asked.

"Harlee's up," Abel told him.

Jax nodded. He got up, knowing his son wanted to open gifts.

"Go nicely wake Thomas up," he said.

Abel nodded and launched himself off the bed. He ran down the hall to his brother's room. He was surprised to find Thomas sitting up on his bed looking at books.

"Whatcha doing Tommy?" he asked.

"Reading," Thomas told him.

"Let's go open presents,"

Thomas got off his bed and followed Abel down the hall. He stared at the tree in the living room that now had a ton of presents under it. Abel was in complete awe over it as well. Jax was already on the couch and Wendy in the recliner. Abel looked over at them.

"You gonna be our elf and pass out the gifts this year?" Wendy asked him.

Abel nodded. He went over to the tree and passed them out until everyone had their own pile. He and Thomas tore into their gifts. He was excited that he had gotten exactly what he had asked for. Thomas was really excited as well. They kept going until the room was a mess of wrapping paper and opened gifts. He sat back on his heels to watch Wendy open a gift. It had caught him off guard because it was small and who liked getting small presents? He watched her as her jaw dropped and she looked up at Jax. He was also staring at her.

"Jax," she started.

"It's not an engagement ring, it's a promise ring. I am making the promise to you that I'm here to stay. No more screw ups. No more club. No more leaving you in the dark about what's going on." Jax told her.

She had tears in her eyes as she put the ring on. She went and continued to open her gifts. Nero arrived to spend some time with them. Lucius was with him to enjoy the holiday without doctors and nurses. Jax stood up and walked around the tree. He pulled something off of it and walked over to Wendy. He dropped to one knee in front of her. She looked at him and her eyes widened.

"This is an engagement ring," he said.

Her mouth dropped open and the tears started to flow. He stared at her waiting for an answer. It was making him nervous.

"Wendy, marry me, please?" he asked.

"Of course Jax," she whimpered.

He put the ring on her finger and moved to kiss her. The boys both cheered, scaring Harlee who began to cry. Jax chuckled and picked up his daughter from the floor.


	19. Chapter 19

That night after putting the kids to bed, they sat on the couch together. She couldn't take her eyes off the ring on her finger. He had her tucked under his arm and against his chest. She stared at her hand. He chuckled.

"Still can't believe it huh?" he asked.

"Jax, I never dreamed we would be here. Things were so bad for so long and we were having so many problems. I screwed up so much," she started.

"Hey, I screwed up just as much as you did. If I was more attentive than I was, maybe I could have actually stopped you and helped you get off the drugs."

"I don't know. It was a bad time back then."

"We have both grown and learned from it. You have stepped up and shown me exactly what kind of person you can be when I'm screwing up the world around me. I appreciate all of that. I love you Wendy. I know things were wrong the first time around and I'm to blame for a lot of it. I really never gave us a proper shot."

Wendy sighed. Jax was the father of her kids. She knew that things had been going well for them. She didn't have to worry about Tara coming back around. Granted, she felt guilty about it especially when she was helping raise Thomas. She sighed. Jax looked down at her, concern written all over his face.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Just feeling a bit guilty," she said.

"Why?"

"I don't have to worry about having Tara come back around and rip this all away from me,"

Jax nodded. He understood it. He felt guilty because Wendy was getting the life that Tara wanted. The three kids, the calm, no club, Jax home all the time. It was all what Tara had wanted and he wasn't going to get that with her. His mother had made sure that wasn't going to happen whether he had gone to prison or not. He felt guilty that Thomas wasn't going to grow up with his mother and the other two were with both of their parents. Abel was finally understanding that Wendy was his biological mother and that Tara had helped his dad raise him for the first four years of his life. It was rough on them all but they were working through it. Jax leaned down and kissed the top of Wendy's head.

"I know though, if it couldn't be here, she would rather it was you," he said.

"You think so?" she asked.

"Yeah I do. She knew how much Abel meant to you and how much you had been through. She was trying to give them to you when she was facing prison time. I think she is more than happy with this happening."

"I think she's real proud of you too,"

"Why?"

"You have grown up so much without the club around. You are being a great father to the kids. That's all she ever wanted"

Jax nodded. Wendy sighed against him. She wondered what would happen if the club came back around. She knew that Chibs still called and it was only a matter of time before Jax accidentally answered the phone. They hadn't talked about what they were going to do should that happen. She sat up and stared at him.

"What?" he asked.

"What are you going to do if you answer that phone one time and it's someone from the club?" she asked him.

"Babe, that's why we have caller id,"

"You don't always look."

"Well I guess I'll have to start. I won't risk being taken from my family again. I already know the hell it would cause for you and for Abel again."

She nodded. She had to trust him on this. He sighed heavily. He knew that being in Norco was not the safest place for them to be. The guys knew where she lived and they could show up at any time. She looked at him, as if reading his mind.

"What do you think about moving?" she asked.

"Where?" he asked her.

"We could go anywhere,"

"You really want to do that to the kids?"

"Jax, it's dangerous being here. Especially if names on the accounts go back to Wendy Teller,"

"They don't have to go back to Teller. You can keep those accounts under Case. They will still be your accounts."

"We could go to Florida,"

"That's up to you,"

"Shit, we could move to Hawaii,"

"Babe, slow down. We can plan all this in good time. I know what you are getting at and I understand it. We just need to take the time to actually plan it out. I don't want to do anything on snap judgments."

"Ok."

Jax leaned back into the couch. He knew it was probably for the best that they figure out somewhere to go that didn't have a club nearby. The two options she gave him were the best ideas out there, plus it wouldn't be cold. The kids would have the same weather they always had. He kind of wanted to go somewhere that had snow. The kids had never seen snow. He wasn't sure he wanted to live somewhere with snow though. She leaned back into him, thinking about how this was going to go. She didn't know how to explain it but she had been terrified now that Jax more out and about that someone was going to spot him and he would be taken from them again. She wanted to ensure that would never happen, regardless of who answered a phone or showed up at her door.

*next morning*

Once Abel was off to school and Thomas was distracted, they sat down to discuss moving. They decided a family vacation to each spot and decide as a family where they were going to move to. Wendy started to plan the first trip. They had decided on Florida first. Wendy was already looking into the schools and a few houses in the area they were going to.

"We'll talk to Abel about this before we go," Jax said.

"Yeah that's a good idea, I don't like springing things on him since he has been through so much," she agreed.

Jax nodded. He was excited to get out of California for a while. He was nervous and excited about the prospect of starting over somewhere that no one knew his name and he would be able to do things like go to his son's school. He would be able to go out places and not watch his back. He was hoping that this would all work out and they could be a normal family.


End file.
